Basketball

Basketball

Offensive Woes Set Belles Back Against Thunder

Gabby Diamond registered her third double-double of the season while leading the Belles with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Ally Steve added nine points, and Gabby Crown posted six points.

The Belles were limited to a 26.3 percent shooting effort on the night.

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's basketball team was limited to a 26.3 percent shooting effort from the floor in an 83-34 conference loss against Trine on Wednesday night.

The visiting Thunder opened up the game on a 13-1 run over the first 4:40 of action while the Belles were unable to connect on their first eight shots of the contest. Back-to-back jump shots by Gabby Crown and Kelsey Ronan edged the Belles within single digits of Trine at 13-5 with 2:02 left in the opening quarter. The Thunder responded with good baskets on their next four possessions to pull ahead 22-5 late in the period. Gabby Diamond hit a layup in the final ten seconds of the stanza to make it a 22-7 contest at the end of the opening ten minutes of action.

The Belles limited the Thunder to their lowest-scoring quarter of the game during the second period (17), but Saint Mary's was unable to cut further into the deficit as the Belles were held to seven points during that same span. Saint Mary's connected on six of 22 shots during the first two quarters (22.2 percent) while Trine went 16-of-35 (45.7 percent) to hold a 39-14 halftime lead.

Saint Mary's posted their highest-scoring quarter of the game in the third stanza (11), but Trine continued to click on offense at a higher rate while extending their lead further with 22 points for a 61-25 advantage through three periods. The Thunder added 22 points in the fourth quarter while the Belles posted nine for the final 83-34 score. During the third and fourth quarters, the Belles improved their shooting percentage from the first half of play by hitting nine of 30 shots (30.0 percent). The Thunder, however, also improved on an already hot-shooting night be connecting on 16-of-31 shots (51.6 percent).

Trine held the edge in rebounds (53-30) and steals (19-9) while going +15 on made free throws. Both teams hit two three-pointers in the game.

Gabby Diamond registered her third double-double of the season while leading the Belles with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Ally Steve added nine points, and Gabby Crown posted six points. Kelsey Ronan had four points and seven rebounds. Aspen Davis chipped in three points and three steals, and Olivia Lathers put two points on the scoreboard.

The Belles (1-6, 0-2 MIAA) are next in action on Saturday when they host Calvin at 3:00 p.m. in Angela Athletic Facility.